peter parker – Nerdisthttp://nerdist.com
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 03:15:11 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.6.1SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Trailer Gives Peter Parker Lots of Laughs and Actionhttp://nerdist.com/spider-man-homecoming-trailer-gives-peter-parker-lots-of-laughs-and-action/
Fri, 09 Dec 2016 05:28:17 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=464075Earlier this year, Peter Parker’s heroic alter ego made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Captain America: Civil War, but now we’ve finally gotten a good look at Spidey’s new solo MCU movie. The first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming has arrived, and we haven’t been this excited about a Spidey film since the very first one back in 2002!

Unlike his last appearance, Tom Holland‘s Peter gets a lot of time out of costume, as the trailer focuses on his friendship with Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon) and Peter’s incredibly awkward and hilarious relationship with his new mentor, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Even Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is apparently taking a role in delivering Spidey’s new costume with the web wings, as revealed in a previous teaser.

The Vulture also makes his debut in the new footage, and while his costume is a pretty big departure from the comics, it really works. We can’t see Michael Keaton‘s face under that mask, but the Vulture’s suit looks like it’s been inspired by the Yellowjacket armor from Ant-Man and even some of Stark’s previous Iron Man suits. We’re not getting a Green Goblin vibe from this outfit, and that’s a good thing!

One of our favorite moments in the trailer features Peter dealing with the apparent exposure of his secret identity to someone close to him—the incident is played for laughs, of which the film looks to have plenty—but we’re also partial to Spidey’s heroic feat near the end of the footage as he struggles to keep two halves of a doom-destined ship together long enough for the crew to escape.

We’re eager to see more before Spider-Man: Homecoming hits theaters on July 7, 2017. What did you think about the trailer? Spin a web, any size in the comment section below!

Image: Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios

]]>Return to the SPIDER-VERSE with Kotobukiya’s SPIDER-GWEN Statuehttp://nerdist.com/return-to-the-spider-verse-with-kotobukiyas-spider-gwen-statue/
Sun, 11 Sep 2016 22:00:09 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=438431This past June, we reported that Kotobukiya would be releasing a Spider-Verse line of their popular ArtFX statues. With Peter Parker and Miles Morales already available for pre-order, Kotobukiya is happy to announce the third member of the line, Spider-Gwen.

This version of Gwen comes from Earth-65 within Marvel’s multiverse. Here, Gwen is the one that is bitten by the radioactive spider and becomes the Spider-Woman of this world (referring to herself as “Spider-Gwen” would sort of defeat the purpose of a secret identity). She is high-school friends with the bullied Peter Parker. In an attempt to gain powers like Gwen, he becomes the Lizard and is killed while fighting Spider-Woman. Blamed for Peter’s death by police, Gwen must now balance life as a teenager and a crime fighter who is also considered a murderer.

Since her debut in 2014, this version of Gwen Stacy has taken the world by storm. You can’t go to a convention these days without someone cosplaying as her. She will also be making her animated debut on the September 17th episode of Disney XD’sUltimate Spider-Man. It looks like her fanbase and popularity are going to continue to grow and grow, and this statue is the perfect way to celebrate that.

You can check out more pictures of the Spider-Gwen ArtFX statue in the gallery below. It will be released in April of 2017, and can be pre-ordered from Kotobukiya’s website here.

So what do you think? Are you excited to add Spider-Gwen to your collection? What OTHER members of the Spider-Man family would you like to see in future lines? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: Kotobukiya, Marvel

But when will they give us the Shocker? Soon, we reckon.

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]]>AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #17 Sets the Prowler Center Stage (Review)http://nerdist.com/amazing-spider-man-17-sets-the-prowler-center-stage-review/
Thu, 01 Sep 2016 17:00:48 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=436086One of the more enjoyable aspects of Peter Parker‘s transition to a globe-hopping, corporate Spider-Man is the partnership between Peter and Hobie Brown, who is better known to Spidey fans as the Prowler. Technically, Hobie is working for Peter and he’s in the dark about his boss’ duel identity, so it’s not quite an equal partnership. But it was clever way for writer Dan Slott to add the Prowler to the supporting cast and elevate his status in the Marvel Universe. This week’s Amazing Spider-Man #17 puts Hobie in the spotlight as both the Prowler and the substitute Spider-Man, and it signals some potentially big changes ahead. Whether those charges are good for Hobie remains to be seen.

This is the second part of Slott’s “Before Dead No More” story, which is leading into the next big Spider-Man event. Judging from this issue, Hobie is going to have a major role soon enough. Slott lets Hobie’s narration carry the issue, giving the character a compelling voice and motivation. Peter Parker is barely in this issue at all, in fact, but it still feels very much like a Spider-Man story when Hobie is wearing the Wall-Crawler’s costume.

Without giving away too much about the story, Hobie is given a mission by Peter to infiltrate a company called New U; what Hobie finds there is going to directly affect howDead No More plays out. It’s a sign of how well Slott has characterized Hobie that there’s actually a sense of danger when he’s put up against the wall by this issue’s newest villain.

As you may have guessed from the cover, that is a new Electro shocking the hell out of the Prowler. As it turns out, she’s someone who has appeared in Amazing Spider-Man before as a one-off character. This time, Slott gives her more of a personality; she even carries the other half of the issue’s narration. This is a woman who desperately wanted to be a part of the supervillain underworld, and now she’s got her chance to be one of them. She’s not as developed as Hobie, but she could be a good ongoing foil for him. As origin stories go, this isn’t a bad one at all.

However, there are a few moments where Slott’s script stumbles. The Pokémon Go jokes are terrible and wildly out of place with the rest of the script. It’s understood that Hobie isn’t as funny as Peter, but it’s extremely forced when even the low level henchmen are caught making dumb small talk about the game.

Fortunately, even those moments look good thanks to the art by R.B. Silva, inker Adriano Di Benedetto, and colorist Marte Gracia. Silva’s style reminds us a lot of Olivier Coipel, and he’s really got an eye-pleasing style that handles everything that Slott throws at him in the script. Silva’s facial expressions are distinctive, and the story flows very well throughout his pages. His drawings of the Rhino and the Lizard will prove particularly memorable. Something about the smart Lizard performing scientific experiments is just innately humorous.

We’re definitely intrigued by this opening chapter and we’re also pretty invested in the guest-hero just on the strength of this issue alone. It’s a very solid issue.

RATING: 3.5 OUT OF 5 BURRITOS

Are you looking forward to Amazing Spider-Man #17? Let’s discuss in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel Comics

]]>Let KOTOBUKIYA Help You Display Your Love of the SPIDER-VERSEhttp://nerdist.com/let-kotobukiya-help-you-display-your-love-of-the-spider-verse/
Fri, 17 Jun 2016 11:00:42 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=412574It’s been one heck of a week if you are a Spider-Fan. From the E3 announcement of Insomniac’s new video game to the casting of Donald Glover, Martin Starr, and Logan Marshall-Green in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it is definitely a great time to be in love with the wall-crawler.

First up in the line will be Peter Parker in a classic Amazing Spider-Man costume and pose.

Over the last few years, Spidey has gone through some costume modifications, from his Superior Spider-Man phase (Yes, that was Doc Ock, but still) to his current “spider has a green glow” costume in the current run of the comic book. The new video game even has an even more drastic change, giving Spidey what I call the “Captain America variant costume.” For those that love your Spider-Man with that original look, this statue is definitely for you.

Small warning: If you get the idea in your head to attempt to copy this “Spider-Pose,” I recommend a RIGOROUS stretching routine.

You can check out more pictures in the gallery below, and can also pre-order the Amazing Spider-Man on Kotobukiya’s website here.

So what do you think? Are you going to pre-order this awesome Spidey statue? What other members of the Spider-Verse (*cough* Peter Porker *cough*) would you like to see in later releases? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

But, like, who could Donald Glover be playing?!

Images: Kotobukiya

]]>Who Will Michael Keaton Play in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING?http://nerdist.com/who-will-michael-keaton-play-in-spider-man-homecoming/
Fri, 20 May 2016 21:45:41 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=403979Is Birdman himself gonna be a bird… man? Michael Keaton, the formerly rumored villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming is now officially in talks for the role. It’s happening! But who exactly will the villain be? Find out on today’s Nerdist News! If you’re afraid of potential spoilers, there may be some in this post—you’ve been warned!

While this might just be a plausible rumor, soon after Keaton was announced, JoBlo.com hit us with a ‘sclusie, that’s right an “exclusive” reveal that the villains in Spidey’s solo flick would be… Vulture and Tinkerer. Yep, that weird old man from the comics that can build bad guy weapons out of anything will rejigger some Chitauri tech to create the Vulture’s wings. But will Keaton take on another bird-man? Or The Tinkerer? Or will he evolve into someone other than a winged animal entirely? He’s already proven he can fly or at the very least, glide, in a super-suit.

Now fans may remember that Matthew McConaughey was the first actor offered the main villain role in Spider-Man: Homecoming, which might mean they’re looking for someone a little younger than the weathered (feathered?) Keaton (I’m sorry) for Adrian Toomes. This choice would leave Keaton to play the Tinkerer, who has high reappearance potential as support for future Marvel villains. We should remember there’s still a high possibilty that JoBlo didn’t even mention another character that we’re pretty pretty pretty sure appears in Homecoming. That’s right: Norman Osborn himself. Keaton has the smarts and paternal charm to do an amazing job as Spidey’s greatest nemesis. Could he play a rival mentor to Peter Parker against RDJ‘s Tony Stark?

But what do you guys think? Are Vulture and Tinkerer your ideal big bads for the first MCU Spidey-villains? Who do you think Keaton is more suited to play? Are you just waiting for Birdman himself to make an appearance in the MCU? Let’s discuss!

]]>Watch SPIDER-MAN’s Onscreen Evolution Over the Yearshttp://nerdist.com/watch-spider-mans-onscreen-evolution-over-the-years/
Thu, 05 May 2016 14:30:25 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=398268Spider-Man, Spiderm-Man
Does whatever a spider can
Spins a web any size
Catches thieves just like flies
Look Out!

And there have been plenty of places to look out for that iconic friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in both television and film since his 1967 animated television series began his onscreen career. While he first appeared in the Amazing Fantasy anthology comic book in 1962, it was the cartoon series five years later that truly kickstarted his long, illustrious, and sometimes strange tenure in the moving picture business.

In the newest edition of Burger Fiction‘s series examining the evolution of comic book characters through film and television, we get to see just how many different times Peter Parker and his witty one-liners have helped save the day. With Spidey set to make his live-action big screen Avengers debut in Captain America: Civil War, it’s as good a time as any to see just how long he has had to remember that with great power comes great responsibility.

There’s a lot of obscure representations of the amazing one here, but the foreign entries might be the most fascinating. The 1973 Turkish Spider-Man (3 Dev Adam) should just be shown on American television. As is, right now.

It’s also a testament to just how fun Peter Parker‘s alter ego is when the LEGO versions of him feel like genuine representations, considering LEGO superheroes are usually ridiculous caricatures. See, you can save the day and have a good time doing it. Looking at you Batman.

We’ll have a whole new entry for this video when Spider-Man: Homecoming comes out in 2017. As these past 50 years have shown, it surely won’t be the last.

What’s your favorite version of Spider-Man? Tell us in the comments below.

Image: Marvel Studios

]]>Marvel’s SPIDER-MAN #1 Reviewhttp://nerdist.com/marvels-spider-man-1-review/
Fri, 05 Feb 2016 21:00:39 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=363849Writer Brian Michael Bendis reminds me of the late, great John Hughes more than any other creative person out there right now. This is because Bendis has an uncanny knack for understanding the teenage thought process. Sure, awkward adolescence is something we all go through, but for most of us, the further we get away from that time in our lives, the less we remember the little details of what it really felt like to be a teenager. By the time most of us are 30, a lot of high school has become a fuzzy memory at best.

But filmmaker John Hughes was one of those people who was able to tap into that specific teenage essence and translate it to film perfectly, such as in movies like The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In the realm of comic books, Brian Michael Bendis also has that ability. Such is why he was absolutely perfect to write a comic about a teenage Spider-Man when he started Ultimate Spider-Man back in 2000. As long as he’s alive and willing, Marvel should make sure Bendis is always working on new books centered around a teenage Spidey.

InSpider-Man #1, we are reintroduced to Miles Morales, a.k.a. Spider-Man the Second. Thanks to the events of Secret Wars, he’s the only survivor of the Ultimate Universe, mainly because he was the only character anyone was really invested in from that universe anymore. How exactly his origin story—which was tied into a version of Peter Parker that no longer exists—played out in the new version of the character is a mystery, but it’s one that can be kept on the shelf for another day. Needless to say, Miles is still Spider-Man, although now he co-exists with an older Peter Parker who is also Spider-Man. And it seems that the general public understands that there are two distinct Spideys out there.

By the way, it should be noted that this comic book is simply called Spider-Man. Not Ultimate Spider-Man, or Miles Morales: Spider-Man, or anything else like that. It’s a vote of confidence from Marvel, letting fans know that he is as much a legit Spidey as Peter Parker, which is pretty awesome.

Much like Peter Parker before him, Miles has a very hard time juggling his superhero life with his personal life. After the opening pages, which find Spidey in the middle of a hopeless battle with the demon Blackheart—who, by the way, has just relegated the Avengers to lying unconscious on the ground—we flashback to his real troubles at his Brooklyn high school. It seems Miles nabbed a date with a longtime crush, but had to stand her up because of Spider-Man duties… so she tells him to take a hike.

It’s here we’re introduced once again to Miles’ best friend Ganke, who is one of the few people who is in on Miles’ secret (the other being Miles’ dad). The friendly ribbing between the two best friends is exactly that kind of teenage banter that doesn’t sound forced, or too much like an old guy trying to write teenagers. They sound like real teenagers, which is that John Hughes-esque gift that Bendis has.

Essentially, Miles’ whole life would be a lot better if he weren’t Spider-Man, and that more than anything else is the key to what makes this book so charming. I can live with a jet-setting millionaire Peter Parker as long as I know someone named Spidey is out there and can’t go on a date or keep his grades up because he’s busy saving the world.

As the action ramps up, the issue’s other hero becomes invaluable—that being artist Sara Pichelli. Although Pichelli has done really great work before, notably on comics like the previous version of Miles Morales: Spider-Man, this is some of the loveliest penciling I’ve seen from her. Her renditions of the action sequences are really spectacular. Her depiction of the demon Blackheart—a usually kind of lame Ghost Rider villain—is positively terrifying. It seems Marvel gave creators a little extra lead time in creating these first few issues of the All-New Marvel initiative while Secret Wars was going on, because the extra time has translated into a lot of extra TLC for a lot of these comics. Spider-Man #1 is no exception.

The combo of Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli continues to make this version of Spider-Man a joy to read, and hopefully this creative team will stay together at least as long as Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley did with the original Ultimate Spider-Man (which was over a hundred issues). This first issue did just about everything right, and as long as Marvel keeps this creative team together, it’s safe to say that the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man is in good hands and has a long, bright future in the mainstream Marvel universe.

RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5 BURRITOS

IMAGES: Marvel Comics

]]>Select SPIDER-MAN Is Marvel’s Coolest Spidey Figure Yethttp://nerdist.com/select-spider-man-is-marvels-coolest-spidey-figure-yet/
Tue, 02 Feb 2016 19:30:41 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=362150There have been dozens, if not hundreds, of action figures based on the amazing Spider-Man released over the last few decades, and some of them have been pretty darn cool. And chances are, you have plenty of fond memories of playing with one or more of them as a kid (or posing one on top of your computer at the office as an adult).

Well, this latest Spider-Man action figure from the folks at Diamond Select Toys and the Marvel Shop is definitely in the “cool” Spidey figure category, and might even qualify as the most comic-accurate Spider-Man figure to date. The new, exclusive Marvel Select Spectacular Spider-Man action figure stands seven inches tall and features 16 points of articulation, so you can actually make this figure do cool Todd McFarlane-esque crouchy poses on your shelf.

This version of Spidey also comes with four pairs of interchangeable hands, a camera accessory, interchangeable masked and unmasked heads, and—maybe the coolest accessory—a bunched-up Spidey mask that Peter Parker can hold in his hand.

This new ultimate Spidey figure is already available for preorder at MarvelShop.com, and now the figure expands o DisneyStore.com as well as to DisneyStore.eu. The Marvel Select Spectacular Spider-Man will ship Feb. 29 to customers and to Disney Store locations. You can check out images of the latest Spidey figure in our gallery below.

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Are you collectors stoked for this ultimate Spider-Man figure? Let us know in the comments.

]]>Geckos Prove that SPIDER-MAN Needs Seriously Revamped Anatomyhttp://nerdist.com/geckos-prove-that-spider-man-needs-seriously-revamped-anatomy/
Wed, 20 Jan 2016 02:30:17 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=356654“Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: ‘With great mass, comes the need for great adhesive surface area.'”

Everybody knows that Peter Parker is endowed with a range of super-human abilities post radioactive-spider bite. He possesses super strength, super agility, accelerated healing, web-shooting powers, and of course, spidey senses. His ability to stick to walls and ceilings however, thanks to a new study on “animal adhesive pads and the size limits of adhesion-based climbing” has come under scrutiny as a real-world application.

The study, performed by zoologist David Labonte of the University of Cambridge and several colleagues, took a look at over 225 animals with “adhesive pads” (skin with billions of tiny hairs small enough to take advantage of inter-molecular Van der Waals forces), and documented the correlation between body volume, mass, surface area, and surface area of adhesive pads. Labonte found that for gecko-style adhesion, Spider-Man would need to have sticky surface area 200 times that of the little lizards, or “approximately 2/5 of the total available body surface,” the study concludes.

In other words, in order for Spider-Man to stick to walls like he does in the comics and films, 40% of his body’s surface area would need to be adhesive pad. Or, if he wanted to keep the adhesive pads exclusively on his feet and and fingertips, he’d need to have… wait for it… size 114 feet.

According to the study, geckos are the the créme de la créme of straight-and-smooth-wall climbers because critters any more massive than they are would require evolutionarily prohibitive adhesive pad surface area.

The study does note that some animals, like the tree frog, have developed an alternative strategy for combating their size when climbing vertical surfaces: stickier pads. Theoretically, instead of supersizing Spidey’s feet and/or hands, his appendages could just be made extraordinarily sticky. But Peter Parker is a high school-aged boy after all, so there may be a few reasons why this wouldn’t be such a great idea.

What do you think about Spider-Man’s lack of adhesive surface area? Is it time to address this real-world flaw, or is it satisfactory to explain his climbing abilities with a simple “because comic books”? Let us know in the comments section below!

]]>Meet the Spider That Puts Spider-Man’s Web Shooting Skills to Shamehttp://nerdist.com/meet-the-spider-that-puts-spider-mans-web-shooting-skills-to-shame/
Sat, 14 Nov 2015 01:30:52 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=333742This, guys. This is exactly why we’re lucky arachnids aren’t as big as we are. Meet the spitting spider (Scythes thoracica), an animal that can shoot venomous, glue-coated silk out of a mouth-cannon so powerful it fires at speeds never before observed in a living creature. And you thought your Super Soaker was cool…

The GIFs in this post feature scenes from the National Geographic Channel documentary, “Super Spider,” in which biologist Dr Robbert B Suter explains the ins and outs of the animals’ amazing abilities. Unlike most spiders which hunt using stationary webs, Scythes spiders rely on an extra silk duct, located near the head, which stores ammo for projectile warfare. When it’s time to launch an attack, a combination of venom, silk, and glue are pumped through the spiders’ reduced fangs, which oscillate at a whopping 1,000 times per second to help propel the sticky secretion through the air.

“That kind of motion can’t be controlled by muscles, at least not directly,” says Suter. “Because muscles can’t contract that fast. It rather couldbe caused by the fluid shooting out very fast. This is exactly what happens when you have a hose and turn the water on. If you’re not holding the end, it whips back and forth.”

These spiders are opportunistic hunters, and will guzzle down just about anything they can subdue with their powerful blasts, including other spiders. The side-to-side motion also forces the silky goo into a crisscrossing pattern which instantly pins prey to the nearest surface – Parker style.

“The spit itself also has a unique property,” adds Suter who, along with his colleagues, managed to film the spiders’ ejections in highspeed during a 2009 study. The footage revealed that after the silky mixture left the fangs, it condensed by 40-60 percent. “It’s contractile.” What this means is that the spiders’ prey will not only be temporarily stunned by the blast, which can reach velocities of 28 meters per second (roughly 62 miles per hour), but also quite literally be shrink-wrapped for convenience.

Before you fly into an arachnophobia-fueled spazzout, you should know that these cosmopolitan spiders are harmless to humans. In fact, you’ve probably encountered them before. In North America, they’re found almost exclusively in and around homes.

]]>New Spiders Named for SPIDER-MAN Actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfieldhttp://nerdist.com/new-spiders-named-for-spider-man-actors-tobey-maguire-and-andrew-garfield/
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 21:00:56 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=325901It must have been an incredible moment in the lives of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield when they were each named the new Spider-Man. I wonder how that compares to having an actual spider named after you though. We’ll have to ask them, now that two new species of spider have been christened in honor of the two most recent Peter Parkers (Peter Parkii?).

Discovered in Iran by Yuri M. Marusik and Alireza Zamani, the two new spiders were dubbed Filistata maguirei and Pritha garfieldi. I’m not a spider expert (though, apparently, I’m the only one in my house able to kill them), so you can read the full paper about their discovery here.

Both spiders are actually members of the same family, Filistatidae (also known as crevice weavers). Filistata maguirei was found in “the surroundings of the Geno Biosphere Reserve,” which is located in Iran’s Hormozgan Province, and Pritha garfieldi was found crawling “in the southern macroslopes of the Alborz Mountains” in Iran’s Tehran Province.

Okay, let’s see what these new spiders look like.

Tobey Maguire was first, so he gets to start, let’s see Filistata maguirei.

KILL IT! KILL IT! THAT’S THE SPIDER FROM ARACHNOPHOBIA!

Sorry. Sorry. Instinct and all. That must be the hardest part of being an arachnologist: fighting your natural urge to step on the actual spiders. I’ll be better with the next one.

Here’s Andrew Garfield’s spider, Pritha garfieldi.

BURN IT! BUUUUURNNNN IT NOOOOWWW!

………

…I’m embarrassed.

Well, at so long as these things stay in Iran I should be fine. Let me just check…

“Filistatidae is a relatively small, globally-distributed family currently comprising 121 extant species within 18 genera–”

Okay then, good luck with your planet of horrible spiders. I’ll be taking a spaceship somewhere else now. For those of you staying, tell us in the comments what other superhero actor you’d like to see lend his or her name to a new species.

]]>Spider-Man’s Part in CIVIL WAR May Be Bigger Than Peter Parker’shttp://nerdist.com/spider-man-captain-america-civil-war-peter-parker-tom-holland/
Wed, 05 Aug 2015 00:00:11 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=286506Imagine you’re a young actor who just got cast as an iconic superhero character in a huge, massive franchise. You good? Now imagine that—before your own movie has even been written—you get to shoot a scene for another, already star-studded outing. Is your head properly wrapped around that idea? Now, what if your character has been in the movie a ton already but you don’t have to shoot any of it. Probably less cool. Or more cool, depending on your view of things.

Peter Parker’s cameo was a pretty short affair, but allegedly/as is the going rumor, Spidey’s web-slinging skills are reportedly all over Civil War, and in one major fight scene specifically. He’ll show up and get into a scrape and that scrape won’t be a super-suave set of kicks and flips; it’s going to be “profoundly dorky.” Finally, a Spider-Man who is both a) young enough to actually be Spider-Man from his comics origins, and b) a regular person whose powers are certainly an enhancement but not a ticket for near-invincibility, something both previous screen versions—especially the way-too-cool Andrew Garfield version—have lacked.

The deal between Marvel and Sony for the rights to Spider-Man as an entity seems to have been one that got the Civil War writers really excited. You’ve got Spider-Man—a guy who wears a mask—so all you really need is a stunt man and some CGI and you’ve got the character for your main action scenes. That’s the world we’re living in now. And while that might be slightly disappointing for Tom Holland, it’s especially great for us who get to see this new Marvel-endorsed version of Spidey in Spring of next year!

Do you think there’s any validity to these rumors? Would you like to see Spider-Man as a bigger influence in Civil War? Let us hear it in the comments.

]]>What Will the MCU’s SPIDER-MAN Be?http://nerdist.com/what-will-the-mcus-spider-man-be/
Tue, 28 Jul 2015 15:00:20 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=283258You’ve seen him dance, you’ve seen him mope, and you’ve seen him try to solve some weird mystery about his dead parents. But beginning next Summer, you’ll finally get to see the Spider-Man you’ve been waiting for– a high school geek who uses jokes as a defense mechanism. But what else can we glean from the recent developments in Marvel and Sony’s new take on the wall-crawler?

Thanks for watching today’s show, don’t miss Malik’s tips for the highly-addictive Rocket League on Nerdist: Play, and let us know in the comments below if you’d prefer a classic Spidey look or a Miles Morales-inspired suit!

]]>New SPIDER-MAN Film Will Have a John Hughes Teen Movie Vibehttp://nerdist.com/new-spider-man-film-will-have-a-john-hughes-teen-movie-vibe/
Mon, 29 Jun 2015 23:00:28 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=271851When Marvel Studios’ new Spider-Man arrives next year in Captain America: Civil War — played by newly cast British actor Tom Holland — it’ll be the third time the character has been given a new introduction to moviegoers in less than fifteen years. After his appearance in Civil War, he’ll be spun off into his own series once again, with director Jon Watts at the helm.

So just what is going to be the difference between this version of Spidey and the previous two versions to truly set it apart, aside from the fact that he lives in the Cinematic Marvel Universe? At the press junket for Ant-Man, Marvel’s Kevin Feige said that this version of Peter Parker would take inspiration from the ’80s teen movies from director/producer John Hughes, the man behind classics like The Breakfast Club,Sixteen Candles,Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and Pretty in Pink.

According to Feige, “It’s the soap opera in high school, and those supporting characters that are interesting; We haven’t seen a John Hughes[–style] movie in a long time … we’re inspired by him, and merging that with the superhero genre in a way we haven’t done before excites us.” Merging genres has been key to Marvel Studios’ success, as many of their movies are mash-ups: Winter Soldier was a political thriller, while Guardians of the Galaxy was a space opera, Thor a fantasy film, etc.

Certainly there’s room in the whole Spider-Man mythology to go the John Hughes route; in the comics, aside from Peter, Mary Jane, Gwen Stacy, and Harry Osborn, there are other players in the ensemble cast, like Ned Leeds, Liz Allan, Debra Whitman, and even Flash Thompson — who eventually outgrew the role of high school bully and became a fully fledged character in his own right. Almost none of these characters have had much (or any) screen time in either the Sam Raimi series or the recent Mark Webb movies, and would be perfect to be reimagined in a John Hughes style high school setting.

What do you think of mashing up Spider-Man with the a John Hughes style aesthetic? Is it a no-brainer, or would you rather Marvel go in a different, more adult direction? Let us know in the comments below!

]]>Marvel’s Kevin Feige Confirms New SPIDER-MAN Will Be A Teenage Peter Parkerhttp://nerdist.com/marvels-kevin-feige-confirms-new-spider-man-will-be-a-teenage-peter-parker/
Sat, 11 Apr 2015 20:59:31 +0000http://nerdist.com/?p=241545Ever since it was announced that Marvel Studios had worked out a deal with Sony to include Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, speculation has run rampant about just which Spidey we’d be seeing; after all, the comics has two Spider-Men–Peter Parker, who everyone knows and loves, and the more recently introduced “Ultimate Spider-Man,” Miles Morales, a half Hispanic/half African-American teenager who took over the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter’s death in an alternate universe.

Considering the lack of any lead superhero who isn’t a straight, white male in the movies, the rumor mill was churning overtime recently that the MCU’s Spidey would indeed be Miles Morales, not only as a way to add diversity to the MCU (where right now three of their franchises are headlined by a white dude named Chris) but to differentiate themselves from the previous Sony Spider-Men, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire,

Well, according to the head of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, at the recent Avengers: Age of Ultron press junket, he was asked about the upcoming inclusion of Spider-Man in the MCU, and confirmed that not only is Peter Parker their new Spidey, but he’ll be high school age, and high school age for some time, as opposed to to the previous movies, where Peter’s time in high school was pretty limited.

According to Fiege, “In terms of the age of an actor we’ll eventually cast, I don’t know. In terms of the age of what we believe Peter Parker is, I’d say 15-16 is right. We want to play with Spider-Man in the high school years because frankly there’ve been five Spider-Man films and the amazing thing about it is, even though there’ve been five Spider-Man films, there are so many things from the comics that haven’t been done yet.”

So there you have it: Spider-Man is Peter Parker once again, just de-aged. While I am looking forward to seeing Miles Morales on screen one day, I’ve waited a long, long time to see Peter Parker trade quips with the likes of Tony Stark and evade the Hulk’s punches while cracking wise, so I’m glad we’re going to see Peter in Avengers tower before anyone else. Don’t worry Miles….your day will come.

What’re your thoughts on Young Pete being in the MCU? Do you think Miles WILL have his day? Let us know in the comments below.

As Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has demonstrated time and again, the man knows what he’s doing–especially when it comes to hiring directors. Get Joe Johnston, the fellow who storyboarded Raiders of the Lost Ark and directed The Rocketeer, to helm the period film Captain America: The First Avenger? Absolutely! Get James Gunn, who’s famous for fusing his wiseass humor to offbeat fare like the 2004 Dawn of the Dead and Slither, to handle Guardians of the Galaxy? Why not? Get Joss Whedon, possibly the finest living screen storyteller when it comes to genre ensemble pieces, to tackle The Avengers? Hell, yeah! Now Feige has done it yet again: he’s nabbed Drew Goddard — the director of Cabin in the Woods, the writer of Cloverfield, and a close friend and frequent collaborator of Whedon’s (word on the streets is he even lent a hand in writing Avengers) — to write and direct Marvel’s very first Spider-Man solo film (due out on July 28, 2017), under its new deal with Sony to co-develop Spider-Man movies. Goddard was handling Sony’s Sinister Six before the studio put the kabosh on its own Spider-Man franchise plans to work with Marvel and Disney, but his participation in a new Spidey film was never a given. Now, thankfully, it is.

According to Latino Review, the next Spider-Man film series may be called Spectacular Spider-Man (dumping the previous series’ “Amazing” and using the the title of another of the character’s long-running comic book series). And Feige and co. are looking to cast a young, most likely unknown, actor to play the part through multiple films, the first of which will smartly not feature the hero’s origin story, starting with an already established webslinger, but will feature the origin of the Sinister Six, and a battle between Spider-Man and Iron Man in which ol’ webhead “auditions” to join the Avengers.

As a longtime fan of both Spider-Man and Goddard, I’m over the moon about this news. But what about you guys? Are you hopeful? Should Spidey join the Avengers? And would you like to see Peter Parker again wear the mask, or should Miles Morales have a turn this time around? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for tomorrow’s all-new episode of Nerdist News where we’ll be breaking down our theories!

]]>http://nerdist.com/report-drew-goddard-to-write-and-direct-marvels-stand-alone-spider-man-movie/feed/10Marvel’s New Spider-Man Probably Won’t Be Peter Parkerhttp://nerdist.com/marvels-new-spider-man-probably-wont-be-peter-parker/
http://nerdist.com/marvels-new-spider-man-probably-wont-be-peter-parker/#commentsTue, 24 Feb 2015 16:00:17 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?post_type=vepisode&p=227823Ever since Sony and Marvel went all Henry Clay and made a great compromise to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, everyone has been wondering which iteration of ol’ Web-Head we’d be seeing. Will it be Peter Parker, the New York nebbish with a heart of gold? Will it be Miles Morales, the Ultimate Universe’s best and brightest? Or would it be Spider-Ham, an anthropomorphic pig named Peter Porker who has risen to prominence once more as a result of Spider-Verse?

Okay, so there’s no chance in hell that it’ll be Spider-Ham, but the latest intel suggests that it won’t be Peter Parker either. Or at least not the version of Peter Parker you might expect. On today’s Nerdist News, join your friendly neighborhood Jessica Chobot as she breaks down the latest Spider-Man news faster than J. Jonah Jameson can snarl, “Parker! My office!” (Which, in case you don’t know, is really fast.)

Today’s show is brought to you by Dragon Ball Xenoverse, the new Dragon Ball Z fighting game from Bandai Namco Games. In fact, we had such a good time with it around the office that we went full Super Saiyan. And you know what they say — you never go full Super Saiyan. You can see the results later today right here on Nerdist.com…

Thanks for watching today’s show! Be sure to check out the latest episode of Nerdist: Play in which Malik debates the value of “short” games like The Order: 1886. Then, let us know what you think of the Peter Parker/Miles Morales rumors. Who would you cast to play Peter/Miles? Tell us in the comments below!

]]>http://nerdist.com/marvels-new-spider-man-probably-wont-be-peter-parker/feed/69Fan Art Friday #18 – SPIDER-MANhttp://nerdist.com/fan-art-friday-18-spider-man/
Fri, 13 Feb 2015 21:00:15 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=225847It’s been a big week for Spider-Man. Marvel, Disney, and Sony worked out an agreement that means the character will be incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s an announcement worth celebrating, and I’m tipping my hat to all things Spider-Man with a gallery of fan art devoted to the web-slinger. We’ll begin with a comic that illustrates why it’s oh so important to give Spider-Man his hyphen.

Share links to your favorite pieces of Spider-Man art in the comments.

]]>It’s Official: SPIDER-MAN is Coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe [UPDATED]http://nerdist.com/its-official-spider-man-is-coming-to-the-marvel-cinematic-universe/
http://nerdist.com/its-official-spider-man-is-coming-to-the-marvel-cinematic-universe/#commentsTue, 10 Feb 2015 05:05:50 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=225283UPDATE 2: Jessica Chobot and the Nerdist News gang have a special video update recapping the news, and a tidbit about the fate of Sony’s Spider-Man spinoffs.

UPDATE: TheWrap is reporting that Andrew Garfield is out as Spider-Man.

CONFIRMED: Andrew Garfield is NO LONGER Spider-Man. Someone new will be cast. First appearance in MCU, then solo film.

Here’s a scoop that’d make J. Jonah Jameson swallow his cigar: Sony and Marvel Studios have officially closed a deal that will bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That’s right, True Believers — Peter Parker is coming home. Or Miles Morales. We don’t know which one yet, but we’re excited.

According to the deal, Spider-Man will appear in a Marvel Studios-produced Marvel Cinematic Universe film first. Then, Sony will release the next installment in its multi-billion-dollar Spider-Man franchise on July 28, 2017. That film will be co-produced by Amy Pascal, who shepherded the franchise when it first came to Sony, and Kevin Feige, who has transformed Marvel Studios into the powerhouse film studio it is today. Together, Earth’s Mightiest Producers will help chart a new course for Peter Parker and his ailing film series. As part of the deal, Sony Pictures will still finance, distribute, own, and retain final creative control over the Spider-Man films. Still, whatever Mysterio-style trickery Feige worked on the suits over at Sony has just paid off in spades.

In particular, it’s fascinating that they negotiated a clause stipulating that Spidey appear in the MCU prior to 2017. Could that mean a certain wall-crawling cameo in Captain America: Civil War? It would certainly make a lot of fans — myself included — awfully happy. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Civil War storyline, Spider-Man plays a pivotal role in the comic book version, leading to one of the iconic panels of his storied crimefighting career. Likewise, Marvel and Sony are also looking for ways to integrate other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters into future Spider-Man films, which could be a real boon for the franchise.

In a press release, Feige said, “Marvel’s involvement will hopefully deliver the creative continuity and authenticity that fans demand from the MCU. I am equally excited for the opportunity to have Spider-Man appear in the MCU, something which both we at Marvel, and fans alike, have been looking forward to for years.”

Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton shared Feige’s sentiments, saying, “This is the right decision for the franchise, for our business, for Marvel, and for the fans.”

We’ll continue to report on this story as it develops.

What do you think of this news? How would you like to see Spider-Man integrated into the MCU? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://nerdist.com/its-official-spider-man-is-coming-to-the-marvel-cinematic-universe/feed/54ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN Has a Premiere Date!http://nerdist.com/ultimate-spider-man-has-a-premiere-date/
http://nerdist.com/ultimate-spider-man-has-a-premiere-date/#commentsTue, 17 Jun 2014 20:45:05 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=159056With The Amazing Spider-Man 2 now a month and a half into its release, the question we’re all asking is, “Where are we gonna get our next Spidey fix?” Luckily, the answer isn’t as distant as you might think. Instead of having to wait until 2016 (or 2017 if the rumors are true) for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, Disney XD announced the official premiere date of the currently running Spider-Man cartoon, Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man.

Under the new title Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, the series will premiere August 31st at 9am. According to Disney, “The new season begins with Spider-Man accepting an invitation to become an Avenger. Alongside Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon, everyone’s favorite web-head gets one step closer to becoming the Ultimate Spider-Man!” Guess that means we’re picking up right where we left off with last season’s amazing cliff-hanger, and perhaps this means Spidey will have to re-earn the respect of his team after leaving to be a member of the big guns.

“Presented in a multi-episode story format, Marvel’s Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors not only pairs Spidey with the Avengers, but introduces new heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe such as Agent Venom, a new Iron Spider Amadeus Cho, Cloak & Dagger, and Ka-Zar,” said Disney. “Additionally, for the first time in animation history, Miles Morales teams up with Spider-Man for a new adventure and he’s not the only Spidey that Peter Parker will encounter in this action-packed season.”

Miles Morales, the Avengers… this season of Ultimate Spider-Man is going to be off the hook!

What are you most looking forward to in the new season of Ultimate Spider-Man? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://nerdist.com/ultimate-spider-man-has-a-premiere-date/feed/2Watch Spidey Do His Spidey Thing In An All New Clip From THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2http://nerdist.com/watch-spidey-do-his-spidey-thing-in-an-all-new-clip-from-the-amazing-spider-man-2/
Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:23:07 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=127880Mark your calendars, people, we’re just a little over a month away from the release of Marc Webb’s highly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and we have a treat for you. Following a stunning final trailer, creepy Green Goblin character photos, and some really cool clips, Sony’s getting back-to-basics in the final leg of its marketing push for the film with an all new clip featuring the most classic of Spidey traits, web-slinging:

Based on the way the clip opens, it seems like a safe bet this comes from the very beginning of the film and leads perfectly into that Paul Giamatti car chase clip released a few weeks ago. As far as web-slinging goes, this definitely looks like a step up from the minimal amount we saw from the first film. It’s really starting to feel like this film is going to tap into some old-school Spider-Man goodness after all.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters May 2nd.

]]>Marc Webb Showed Us 30 Minutes of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Footagehttp://nerdist.com/marc-webb-showed-us-30-minutes-of-amazing-spider-man-2-footage/
http://nerdist.com/marc-webb-showed-us-30-minutes-of-amazing-spider-man-2-footage/#commentsWed, 19 Mar 2014 23:45:12 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=124349Note: There are potential spoilers in this post, so read on with caution.

Web-heads rejoice! If this morning’s release of the final trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 only whet your appetite for more Spidey goodness then you’ve come to the right place. Earlier this week Sony invited a small group of journalists to check out a selection of scenes with director Marc Webb in attendance. Included in the footage were the first 15 minutes of the movie, some Peter and Gwen one-on-one time and a meeting of the minds between Harry Osborn and Max Dillon a.k.a. Electro. So with all of this footage, let’s cut to the chase… well, we’ll get to the chase.

The Amazing Spider-Man hinted we’d see more of Peter’s parents past coming back to pester Parker. Marc Webb makes good on his promise in the opening scenes of Amazing 2 by bridging the footage of the Parker parents from the first film and kicking it into high gear. As in high in the sky and in desperate need of landing gear. Much like the opening of Dark Knight Rises, the pair of Parkers have pissed off some peculiar people and are in a precipitous place of personal peril. But enough alliteration, let’s get to the point. On the run from Oscorp and in the process of getting their “insurance” in order, Papa Parker is uploading a back-up of all of his research and dirt on Norman Osborne to a person or computer called “Roosevelt”. Considering that they’re airborne, the upload speed is fantastic. Mary Parker is still distraught over having to leave her son behind, but Richard makes it clear that safety is not something they’d be able to offer their son anymore and leaving him behind was for the best.

While Mary gets cleaned up, a crew member visits the cabin to wash his hands. When Richard realizes what exactly is being washed off those blood-stained hands he moves into action. A frantic fight breaks out for control of the computer. The thug in a co-pilot’s jacket has Richard on the edge until the bathroom door opens and a new contender enters the ring. Without a moment’s hesitation Mary Parker jumps in the fray only to be brushed aside by the trained killer. As the thug and Richard fight for control of the computer control of the plane goes sideways as the dead pilot slumps onto the controls, sending the plane into violent turns and rolls.

Just when it looks like all hope is lost, Mary is back on her feet and back in the fight. Slamming a coffee pot into the henchman’s skull, Mary puts Richard back on point by yelling “Roosevelt!”, reminding Richard that the key to his child’s safety wasn’t in the cloud yet. Distracted for mere moments, the Parkers are on their heels when the henchman reawakens. In the scuffle, Mary takes a shot to the gut and is left to bleed out while Richard struggles against his attacker. The plane is going down, his wife is bleeding out, and Richard is holding out as long as he can for the upload to complete.

*100%* The upload to Roosevelt is done. Taking one last look at his loving wife, Parker decides to end this on his terms. Pointing the gun at a window, Richard fires a shot that releases the cabin pressure. This plane is not going to land, unless you’re using the Con Air sense of the term, answering one of the first film’s great mysteries as to whether or not the Parkers were still out there. It’s a bleak opening that puts Peter’s upcoming struggles into a paternal perspective; Uncle Ben doesn’t seem to be the priority in Spidey storytelling he once was as Webb clearly wants to work different angles of Peter’s life to serve the Oscorp narrative.

Now, cutting back to that chase. What feels like a true opening to the movie, Spider-Man is diving from a skyscraper towards the New York pavement. Audible woos and yells are coming from this footloose and fancy-free wall crawler as he swings through the NYC skyline. Back in the classic costume (a costume that’s finally getting unaltered justice, and looks better than even Raimi’s), Spider-Man is talking fast and zipping through Manhattan even faster. Spidey’s on the lookout for something to do and an armored car heist seems like the perfect way to occupy his time.

Cinematically, this is the most fun we’ve had web-slinging with our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. An over-the-shoulder shot zooms in on the downswings and backs out with the upswings. Impressive acrobatics are on full display in slow-mo/speed-up shots that are industry standard thanks to the Matrix. There’s a lighter feel to Spidey in this re-introduction. The actually smart smart-ass is back and it’s a pleasure to see.

As Spidey catches up to the armored car chase our hero is put through his paces. Russian mobster Aleksei Sytsevich (Paul Giamatti) is leading a hijacking of plutonium from Oscorp’s armored truck. The chase has many memorable moments, including Spider-Man’s “Hello, how are you?” introduction to our once and future Rhino and a plutonium juggling scene that is classic Spider-Man through and through.

As the chase rips through the streets of Manhattan, a clumsy and put-upon Oscorp employee gets knocked around by his fellow NYC pedestrians. Max Dillon (Jaime Foxx) is carrying important blueprints into work and has the “aw shucks” luck of seeing them get kicked into the street. As he starts to collect them, the chase we’ve been watching begins bear down on our soon-to-be Electro. A last second save by Spider-Man makes Max feel noticed for possibly the first time in his life. That’s clearly not going to come back around, right?

The chase finishes with Spider-Man putting Aleksei in a web version of stocks. To add insult to injury, Peter can’t resist from pantsing the goon. I wonder if this bit of showboating will come back to haunt him… hmmm. (Does sarcasm come across on the internet?) Peter then hauls ass to Queens for his high school graduation. He then does something no one could picture the Parker of the comics doing and scoops valedictorian Gwen Stacy up in his arms for a very public display of affection. It seems the disconnect between Peter and Spider-Man that many missed in the first film has carried over, so Peter not being a total loser is apparently still in the cards.

Our second set of scenes reunites Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker after a year of Peter trying to honor his promise to Gwen’s father not to bring his life as Spider-Man near his daughter. They’ve both clearly been pining for each other. A frankly cute scene straight from Webb’s wheelhouse develops as Gwen and Peter try to set ground rules for how they can move forward as friends. Peter complains that Gwen’s laugh will immediately have to go as it’s too cute. Gwen counters with forbidding Peter from saying she looks amazing while staring at her with his “big brown, doe eyes.” The schmaltz leads to a real conversation where Peter admits to following her for a few minutes a day, because it’s the closest he can come to being with her. In these moments, the relationship feels pretty real and complicated. It’s soon brought to an abrupt hault as Gwen reveals she has an opportunity to go to England.

Here’s some footage from a different scene to demonstrate the relationship, which at this point is the linchpin of making this movie work:

The lovefest is interrupted when we see Max Dillon, freshly turned into Electro, walking down an empty New York street. Max is seeing things differently. He can feel when electricity is flowing nearby and his vision is almost X-ray like in how he views the world. Max accidentally drains a car of its power before following a the largest stream of power to its source, Times Square.

After a failed attempt to calm him down, Spider-Man goes into save-everyone-mode with some pretty spectacular results. Visually, the film’s action has its own rhythm and flow. It’s hard to describe, but it’s clear Marc Webb is trying to tell a fuller story with his action pieces. This lands with a mixed effect of some scenes dragging on a little too long, but you do walk away understanding some of the characters’ motivations better. The film runs the risk of feeling spoon-fed with these elements, but in what is clearly a more family friendly Spider-Man film it’s forgivable.

Just as Electro begins to understand that his powers are far more limitless than he realized, he is knocked down by Spider-Man with a little help from the FDNY in an amazing nod to a look Spidey has sported many times before. Once again, Spider-Man’s ability to be the cockiest winner of all time is going to lead to some nasty consequences.

The final film selection presented has Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan) trying to convince Electro that the answer to his problems is two-fold: help Harry break into Oscorp and then, together, they destroy Spider-Man. Harry is prepared to get Electro out of Ravencroft to exact revenge on his father. We’re not sure what’s happened, but he’s got some scar tissue growing and as we saw in images released this week, the skin condition is going to get worse. In some unfortunate stylistic similarities, the scene awkwardly reminds us of Batman & Robin‘s Mr. Freeze breakout, with Uma being replaced by the kid from Chronicle. It really didn’t help that the green and blue color palettes made the scenes so similar.

After a little convincing and last ditch plea for help before being taken out by security forces, Osborn releases Max by jolting him with a taser. This is all the power boost Electro needs as he disappears into the conduits that were keeping him prisoner. Memories of Dr. Manhattan filled our heads as Max Dillon rematerializes through some very impressive CG. The doctors and security that kept him at bay get their comeuppance for treating Max like a guinea pig. The kid who would be Green Goblin and Electro take off together into the sunset, with a firm foundation now ready for the Sinister Six to build from.

Marc Webb then stuck around for a bit to answer some questions and we have them all here for you:

Nerdist: There’s a lot going on in the scenes we saw and you’re introducing a lot of characters. We see that we’re going to get a lot of backstory on a lot of people. What’s your run time looking like with all of that going on?

Marc Webb: 16 hours! (laughs) No, it’s going to be over 2 hours, but it’s really — I actually don’t know the exact number, but we’re very careful to invest in the characters while keeping the story moving forward. There’s no one more acutely aware of that than me and I am, at times, impatient, but I also really value richness of character and that requires spending some time. I mean, there is a value to understanding the first movie, but it’s certainly not imperative to enjoying and experiencing the holistic quality of the second film.

Press: Can you talk about some of the classic Spider-Man elements that maybe you didn’t have a chance to incorporate in the first movie that you wanted to bring to this one. The Daily Bugle, for instance, seems to be heavily featured in the marketing.

Marc Webb: Yeah, we’re developing the Daily Bugle. Obviously, you’re going to get a little hint of Norman Osborn in this film. The Daily Bugle is part of it. The big thing that I wanted to nail this time was the suit, you know? I wanted to return to the iconography that we knew from the comic books and the Daily Bugle is an emerging force to be reckoned with. That’s one of the fun things about delving into a universe like this. You can take more time with these things. We really did think about this in a longer format. As far as things like the Daily Bugle and Norman Osborn’s story, we were very selective about how to tease that out.

Press: Obviously, we got a bit of a preview of it from the footage, but I’m curious about Electro’s motivations. It seems like he’s driven by this overall need to be needed by society. Could you talk about exploring that theme and how it manifested itself?

Webb: Sure! To understand Electro is to understand Max Dillon, as Jamie [Foxx] has said. Jamie’s been a really great component of this and he was a great partner in trying to generate this in the movie. Max Dillon’s character has been sort of ignored by the world, forgotten by people. He’s an outcast, much in the way that Peter Parker is an outcast, and he chooses to react to that in a little bit different a way. There is a wonderful pathos that Jamie enables at the beginning of the film. You haven’t seen that part yet, but you really feel for him. But there’s also a psychosis. There’s something mad about him and that eventually gets the better of him.

Press: It looks like you’ve really amped up the comedy. It was certainly there in the first one, but can you talk about developing that for the sequel?

Webb: That’s one of the iconic parts of the character that we chose to embrace. Even in the first movie, there’s that scene in the parking lot. Something fundamental about Spider-Man, as you guys know, is his wit and his quips, but it’s also part of his character. It’s how he provokes villains, particularly. It’s how he puts them on their heels and I think that, with Rhino, it’s particularly convenient because he’s such a dumb villain that he can provoke in that way. We always try to think about it in the nature of the scene and the nature of the character. That’s where the comedy emerges. We did something that sometimes big comedy movies do, which is to get a roundtable of comedians and just have them spit jokes out. We’d use that and try them out with Andrew and see what worked. We would have, in the beginning of the process, some of the best comedians. It’s sort of a private thing that you can’t really tell who’s in it, but these are amazing, really brilliant comedians and many of them are comic book fans. The come in and help us with coming up with jokes and one-liners and quips that are part of Spider-Man’s universe.

Press: It has already been said that there’s going to be a third Amazing Spider-Man in 2016 and an Amazing Spider-Man 4 in 2018, plus all these spin-offs with Venom and the Sinister Six. How much are you involved with the overall Spidey universe as it is?

Webb: We’ve been trying to figure out how to develop a larger universe and there are some very exciting things coming around the corner with The Sinister Six and Venom and future Spider-Man movies. I want to be involved in any way I possibly can and we’re already talking. We’ve had these really wonderful discussions and there’s already been some announcements, but you know Alex [Kurtzman] and Bob [Orci] and Drew Goddard and a lot of these really brilliant minds who are young and emerging are helping us develop something a little bit more elaborate and exciting. It’s just been a blast. It’s sort of a dream come true. We’ve had fantasies about what we could do and they’re slowly coming to reality. I’m really excited about that.

Press: I was wondering if you could talk about the decision to have Peter and Gwen graduate from high school. It seemed like when you rebooted the franchise, part of the reason was to keep them younger.

Webb: Listen, our actors are getting a little bit older. To play around with that for too long would get to be absurd. We’re also trying to find stations in life and important moments for them to emerge from. We did spend the whole first movie in high school. This is not that much further in their future. To be honest, there’s a thematic resonance with people moving on, with graduation, which felt really potent to us. The graduation speech was a way to introduce the universe and the themes of the movie in an interesting way and that just felt right. They were getting to that age and it’s about a gradual teasing of information. It felt appropriate to watch that important moment in their lives.

Press: One criticism some people had of the first movie was how, when it was over, we still didn’t quite know what happened with Peter’s parents. Is that going to be explained more in depth in this film?

(Please note the footage we screened kind of answered this)

Webb: Yes. That’s the thing. It’s a tricky thing because that was part of what we were trying to establish. Of course it was going to be teased out. We had a plan about how to let that unfold. It was sort of the long shadow that was cast over Peter Parker’s life. We knew how this was going to emerge. We had ideas about the pathways of these characters, but we didn’t want to blow everything out in the first movie because, again, it’s about creating a more elaborate universe developing into more and more interesting and nuanced things that the fans are really going to enjoy.

Press: Did early plans for a third and fourth film affect the script of this one at all?

Webb: You know, originally it was conceived as a trilogy. We were thinking about three movies and then we started messing around with the second movie. There was such an enormous wealth of information and we were just like, ‘We can’t cram them all into one movie! There’s too much richness there!’ So when we were talking about the beginning of the second film, we were trying to plan out all of the emerging storylines. It just started to make sense to invest in other stories. Then, in particular, the Sinister Six is something we’d always talked about, just asking, ‘How do we plan this out?’ So, that’s where it started, the beginning of the second movie, in terms of developing the universe.

Press: You clearly have a plan for where you’re going. Knowing that, how and why does Electro being the main villain fit with that?

Webb: I think primarily — again, in the first film — I had sort of an idea of how these characters would evolve. I just wanted to use Electro. There was purely a cinematic opportunity there that I thought was awesome. Given where we’re at with visual effects and technology, I thought we could do it in an effective and interesting way, which I didn’t think existed until recently. There was just an opportunity there. So there was part of that which went into it. Then, as we were trying to craft Electro’s story, thematically, there was a resonance between Max Dillon’s character and Spider-Man. What is that villain going to bring out in your protagonist? How was he going to make that character more heroic? That was important, but really, it was about this movie. It was about finding a villain that was interesting, powerful and strong, but that had a thematic resonance to Spider-Man. That idea of the outcast, which you get a little tease of. Villains and heroes often are foils for each other and there are layers and layers to that. Thematically, it had a lot to do with Max Dillon. Electro is an incredibly visual villain. He needed to be seen, which is a part of his character and that has a relations with Peter Parker’s character and his journey.

Press: The scale of this seems really enormous. In the opening action sequence, you’ve got a Blues Brothers amount of cop cars. It’s big, and I’m wondering if, because you’re primarily dealing with just Spider-Man’s universe rather than the overall Marvel universe, do you l kind of a pressure to go really big?

Webb: There is always a 12-year-old kid inside of me that just wants more. More cop cars. I want 10, no 50, no, let’s get 80 cop cars and trash them all! If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend you do it. There is also the playfulness of it. It became known on set as the Blues Brothers sequence because of what you’re talking about. It’s something that was fun and felt kind of a way to start off the movie in a more playful way, especially given the opening situation with the plane. I wanted to bring it back into this playful part of Spider-Man that also felt big and action-driven. There’s opportunities in action for certain kinds of comedy that you just don’t get anywhere else. But yeah, there is a pressure to let it be big and have fun with it. There was a joy that we really wanted to embrace, especially at the outset of the film.

Press: Shailene Woodley’s Mary Jane Watson has been cut out of the final film. Does losing her character affect the story?

Webb: No, it was a separate, tiny little tease that we omitted. It was really uneventful.

Press: You talk about expanding Spider-Man’s universe. Could that include a female spider person?

Webb: Spider person? Anything is possible, but that hasn’t been on my mind. It’s an interesting idea.

Press: We didn’t get a chance to see Norman Osborn in those clips. Could you talk about his role in the film. Also, does Harry sort of play more of the antagonist and will we find out who was talking to the Lizard in that final sequence from the first film?

Webb: Yes, to your second question. Norman Osborn, who is played by Chris Cooper, has a really interesting component that I don’t want to reveal. We have to be very careful about what we reveal and we get a lot of flack for sometimes talking about too many things. We also want to enthuse people to see the movie so, in keeping with trying to make that cinematic experience for everybody at home really special, I’m going to withhold that answer from you.

Press: In the Times Square sequence, we see this really intricate slow motion tracking shot, which goes through 3D space. It seems to be showing us a bit of Spider-Man’s perspective and how he sees things as he’s looking at a situation.

Webb: It’s very perceptive. You’re exactly right. It’s about the audience feeling what Spider-Man feels, which is where the point of view shots came in the first movie. It’s a philosophy of film making. It’s trying to get people as closely aligned to what Peter Parker and Spider-Man experience as possible. That was a cinematic type of language that I wanted to use in order to induce that feeling and get spider-sense. What’s the visual representation of spider sense? It happens in a split second. He’s aware of impending physical trauma or violence and he’s able to react to that and that just seemed like the right way to do it. There’s a little tease of that in the beginning, in the bus as well. It’s really part of a bigger thing, which is that I want the audience to feel what Spider-Man feels.

Press:There are obvious reference in Gwen’s speech about her infamous demise in the comics. Is the fact that certain elements of the story are so ingrained in pop culture useful tool in that you have the chance to, at times, subvert them and keep people guessing?

Webb: I think it’s crucial. You have to think about the story just on its own, irrespective of what people’s expectations are first and foremost. The story has to work on its own because people have such a varying degree of understanding of this universe. Some people have never read a Spider-Man comic, but a lot of people have. First and foremost, you just think about the story itself and then, along the way, there are certain teases and hints and acknowledgements that hopefully engender a level of engagement from the super-fans, because they’re always close to us. I talk to them everyday and I’m aware of that. I want to make that experience rich for them, so there are certain reference I guess you would say that we implanted for people like me who are fans and interested in the universe.

—The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is in theaters on May 2, 2014. Are you excited for the film? Let us know in the comments below.

]]>http://nerdist.com/marc-webb-showed-us-30-minutes-of-amazing-spider-man-2-footage/feed/4Check Out The Final Trailer For THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2!http://nerdist.com/check-out-the-final-trailer-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2/
http://nerdist.com/check-out-the-final-trailer-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2/#commentsWed, 19 Mar 2014 17:58:59 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=124291The day is here, folks. The day of an all new trailer for Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and it’s glorious:

This trailer is by far the most well blended one of the bunch, just the right amount of character and action to sell all the major aspects of this sequel. There’s a little Harry, a little Goblin, a little Electro, a little Peter and a whole lot of web slinging excellence, some of which is actually very creative. The sequence of Spidey making a web-wall to stop the police car is fantastic, as is that bit at the end between him and the R.H.I.N.O. mech-suit.

This trailer should allow everyone to rest easy knowing this movie is going to rock come summer.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters May 2nd.

]]>http://nerdist.com/check-out-the-final-trailer-for-the-amazing-spider-man-2/feed/5Get Your First Good Look at The Green Goblin In New Photos From THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2http://nerdist.com/get-your-first-good-look-at-the-green-goblin-in-new-photos-from-the-amazing-spider-man-2/
http://nerdist.com/get-your-first-good-look-at-the-green-goblin-in-new-photos-from-the-amazing-spider-man-2/#commentsTue, 18 Mar 2014 01:30:07 +0000http://www.nerdist.com/?p=123735**Note: the following contains potentially spoilerish images.